Bill on Creating a Database of Extremist Materials Passed in First Reading

On April 13, 2021, the State Duma deputies passed in the first reading bill No. 1129469-7, which proposes the creation of a special information database of extremist materials. The document was submitted to the lower house of parliament by the Government of the Russian Federation.

According to the explanatory note attached to the bill, “The creation of the database aims to support operational-search activities and investigative actions carried out as part of countering extremist activities, as well as to organize preventive measures aimed at preventing such activities.”

The Ministry of Justice is proposed as the operator of the system.

The document specifies that within 30 days from the date a court decision recognizing certain informational materials as extremist comes into legal force, the Russian Ministry of Justice will add not the materials themselves, but only information about them to the federal list of extremist materials. The prohibited materials themselves will be entered by the Ministry of Justice into this new database.